brain freeze (peter parker x black reader)
peter watched the clock idly as time went by, eyes glued to the ticking hands on the clock. he was leaning against the counter behind the assortment of ice creams that were protected by glass, and waiting boredly for someone to come in.
his shift was over soon and he could leave and go home where ned would be awaiting to build the lego death-star with him. but for now he was at scoops ahoy. he didn’t mind it much, working here - who didn’t want to be surrounded by ice cream and happy people eating ice cream all day long? at least, that was what peter thought. it was good to get a normal job experience and a little cash for himself, and to help aunt may. he could still be a regular teenage boy. still, he was working alone today and it was empty in scoops ahoy.
at least, until you came in.
peter looked up as the door swung open and a girl walked in with her friends, and there she was, shining in all her glory. her friends were pretty but she was the prettiest, and peter stood up tall when he saw her coming forward. you paid no mind to him, engrossed in cheery conversation with your friends, laughing with your mouth open in a smile and then listening to what they had to say, a cool look on your face signaling that you were listening.
the whole group of girls weren’t very occupied with their surroundings and especially not with peter, it was as if he wasn’t even there. when peter’s mind had shut down its repetitive cycle of thinking: “wow, she’s so pretty!” or “i look so stupid just standing here in my uniform … what am i saying, she’s not even looking at me. i wish she would”, he quickly realized the girl.
he knew you as the new girl in town and at midtown high. your name was yn and she was a transfer from a performing arts school in oakland, california where you used to live. how you switched from the arts to tech, peter didn’t know. what he did know was that he missed 90% of the lessons being taught in classes he had with you because he was looking at you, blinded by your beauty. your skin was a chocolate (or dark chocolate) color, blemish-free and radiant, with (insert hair type and color) that complimented your already perfect face. regardless of your height, to peter you stood tall because of your remarkable beauty.
he spent most times during lessons when he had a class with you either staring at your back or peeking over at you from the other side of the room. you were naturally beautiful and for that, naturally popular, but from what peter could see you were also smart and generally nice to everyone, though also cool-headed and much smoother than peter could ever dream to be. where you delivered words with a calm, soft voice and suave smile, peter stuttered and tripped over the simplest of sentences (unless there was discourse on anything sci-fi or old movie pop culture related.)
even so, knowing that you were probably a harmless person and it wouldn’t kill to try to be your friend, peter didn’t have the chest to just walk up to you and start a conversation. the only time you’d spoken was when you had to partner up in chemistry. he vaguely remembered you smiling and saying your name, introducing yourself, and him just nodding and nervously mumbling, “peter”, and then you went their separate ways and split up the experiment. so, it wasn’t much of a first impression if an impression at all.
and now, he was serving you ice cream in the parlor where he worked. and he would have to talk to you, and all your gorgeous friends. and the way he was freezing up now, he wouldn’t try to make conversation with you outside of just taking your order. in fact, he barely even noticed that he was now being waited on, that your friends were staring at him and he was just stuck, his lips slightly parted, eyes glimmering with hope and that giddy anticipation reminiscent of middle school crushes.
“um, hello?” one of them said, a tan girl who peter knew to be named carmella.
he cleared his throat abruptly and tore his eyes away from you, suddenly readying himself at the register and straightening up, and his cheeks were already burning at the awkward moment.
“oh,” peter said. “sorry. uh, welcome to scoops ahoy… ahoy! what would you guys… like to get today?”
peter found his voice trailing off and his eyes traveling back over to yn inadvertently as he tried to compose himself, failing miserably. a concoction of girlish, knowing giggles emerged from your group of friends as they noticed peter glancing over at you and tripping over himself. they laughed innocently, making peter’s face burn even more red and curse his complexion for making his blushing so easy to see.
“um, can i get a butter pecan in a cup, please?” another one of your friends named daya started to order, and they all ordered before yn, peter taking them down and whipping up their orders as usual.
they had all sat down with their ice cream at a table nearby by the time it was your turn to order, and peter’s grew unsteady, his hands getting fidgety, and he was having trouble looking you in the eye.
“hey,” you said, your velvety smooth voice calm and already reassuring. peter looked into your eyes to find them hard, but somehow comforting. you were speaking quieter so your conversation was private and that was apparent too. and now peter was frozen again, it was like you gave him a brain freeze. “don’t pay attention to my friends, they were just giving you a hard time, but they don’t mean any harm.” you laughed slightly and peter’s heart soared - it was like listening to an angel sing while fairies tittered somewhere beyond. “promise.”
peter nodded, his body feeling strangled, and his words coming out in a stammer,
“i-it’s fine, they um… were really nice. no hard times over here.”
you laughed again and it became apparent to peter that you were laughing at him, though not in a mean-spirited way, but because you found him funny, and that was good. he didn’t know how to talk to pretty girls but at least he knew that much.
“you sure?” you asked, and peter nodded quickly,
“uh huh. hundred percent.”
you laughed again, he was so cute and funny to you and you didn’t even know why you were really starting a conversation with him out of the blue. as much as you liked it, you couldn’t help but feel like you were holding him up.
“i’m sorry, i’m wasting your time. can i get umm, a small chocolate-vanilla swirl, on a cake cone?”
“soft-serve?” peter asked, his customer service voice kicking in.
“yeah,” you said, and when you looked up, your eyes were gleaming, making peter’s breath hitch in his throat.
he started to freeze again, but stopped himself this time, glancing down and scratching the nape of his neck, blinking harshly,
“your total is $3.42,” peter announced after handling the register, and you handed him a five dollar bill with ease, peter looking down and noticing your well-groomed nails and how soft your hands looked. “here’s your change.”
he gave you back your change and something in him snapped when he blurted,
you cocked her head to the side, confused,
“wasting my time,” peter answered, finding the courage in himself to smile at her just a moment, blissed out when you smiled back.
“you’re so cute,” you said nonchalantly, as if it were nothing, just a meaningless compliment that would be thrown into the void. but peter’s heart physically panged when you said it and his cheeks went as red as the cherry he put on top of your ice cream, handing it to you with hands that were damn near trembling.
“th-anks,” he said, his voice cracking.
his mind was racing, replaying the three words over and over again in his head. he was already preparing himself to never talk to you in school but always remember this moment as one he would cherish, the sole interaction that mattered between the two of you, small but a victory anyway. but he looked up when he noticed you hadn’t yet retreated back to your friends who were all laughing among themselves.
you were just standing where you had been in front of him, holding your ice cream cone in both hands and gazing inquisitively at him as you licked your ice cream. it took everything in peter for his eyes not to glance down at your lips and notice the clear lip gloss you had on that made your lips look pouty and kissable and shiny, and he did anyway.
“peter, right?” you said, and for a second he forgot that you too must know him from school, that this was a mutual understanding. peter figured you had just read his nametag until he realized you were actually conscious of his existence.
“yeah... yeah, peter. peter parker.”
“peter parker, sounds like a superhero’s name,” you repeated his name and it sounded like ice cream rolling off your tongue - literally.
“yeah, that’s me, heroic as ever. and you’re yn.”
“c’est moi,” you decided to lean on the counter so you could peer your head in and feel closer to peter, which of course made his heart race like mad, but surprisingly he kept his cool.
“i’m… peter,” he said, his voice getting lost as he found himself staring into your eyes, realizing too late that he sounded like a cd stuck on repeat.
you giggled loudly, amused by his awkwardness and cute behavior, cooing,
“yeah, i got that. you’re in my chem class, and you’re like really smart.”
“oh yeah?” peter laughed to himself and rested his hand down, accidentally popping open the register, scaring himself, and then having to close it abruptly.
“hells yeah. this one time no one else knew how to balance this precipitation reaction and you did it in like point five seconds. it was pretty impressive,” peter detected the tone in your voice as impressed, admiration even? it was too surreal to fully address.
“wow,” peter was blown away at the fact that you even noticed his presence in that class. “i mean um, thanks. you’re pretty - smart … too. i mean you’re pretty smart too. and, pretty. but also smart.”
you smiled, although peter was mentally beating himself up for being so rattled,
“um, i like your earrings,” peter said in a desperate attempt to keep the conversation going, though he really did like your earrings, gold hoop ones shaped in a heart.
“thanks! they were like five bucks at the beauty supply store, i had to cop them. they’re these bamboo heart-shaped hoop earrings. pretty cool.”
“yeah,” peter chuckled. “cool.”
he didn’t mean to sound as careless as he did, it was just that he wasn’t used to talking to pretty girls for a prolonged amount of time, and he was in pure shock at the fact that you of all people wanted to talk to him. like, you were willingly starting and holding conversation and the fact of that was too much to handle.
“so, have you lived here your whole life?”
“at scoops ahoy?” peter replied with a question, face palming when he realized you obviously weren't referring to that. “i mean, queens, god. yeah, pretty much. and you-”
“moved here from oakland, cali. so, kinda california girl meets new york. you know, it’s so different here, but i like it. the people are really nice, despite popular belief.”
“you must have gotten lucky with the people,” peter joked, and you just smirked,
“i was talking about you. but, sure.”
peter paused, taking in what you had just said and how easily the conversation was flowing, mostly thanks to you not being as awkward as he was, and he figured now was his time.
“um... listen, i know we only really just met and all, but-”
“just met? peter, i’ve known you for like, a couple months now,” you teased, and he laughed nervously, shaking his head, his curls falling onto his forehead,
“aha, yeah, right. but we’ve only just met and i was wondering if… if you… maybe wanted to hang out sometime. i-if you want. you definitely don’t have to, but-”
“we’re hanging out right now.” you caught sight of peter’s fallen face and just chuckled, nudging his arm from the other side of the counter, your touch electrifying him. “peter, i’m kidding!”
“oh,” he giggled nervously, continuing to scratch at the nape of his neck. “i’m sorry, i-”
“don’t be,” you commanded, and suddenly he knew not to be. you took a pen from nearby, holding your ice cream in a different hand, and started to scribble something onto a piece of napkin. “here’s my number. call me sometime.”
peter practically choked on his own spit at the sight and he blinked fiercely, his mind going foggy because he hadn’t yet evaluated what would happen in this particular series of events. he wasn’t sure if it was real or just some sick fantasy waiting to mock him by his sleep, but when he felt the touch of the soft napkin dimpled with pen engravings in his hand he knew it had to be real. you were giving him your number.
“oh. wow, thanks, this is… i’ll just call you.”
“that’s how phones work,” you giggled, and his fogginess and shock morphed into excitement and anticipation as he waved the napkin around in his fingers.
“yeah. i’m not that smart after all,” he said, joyous to hear you laugh again. “god, i know i must look so-”
“shhh, don’t say anything bad about yourself. look, i gotta go. but call me soon. maybe tonight, we can talk. if you want to.”
peter’s face lit up like a christmas tree and he beamed at you,
“cool,” you said, your heart rate increasing just like his did as you walked backward, facing him.
“cool,” he repeated, under his breath, a smile forever encasing his features.
“guys, let’s go,” you corralled your friends and they followed, filtering out of the parlor. you continued to walk backwards so you could face peter, “bye!”
“you look really pretty, by the way. really nice,” peter blurted out of excitement, still finding the need to correct himself.
this time you were the one whose cheeks got warm,
“thanks! you too,” you had reached the door by now and you were beginning to turn away. “bye, peter!”
peter said goodbye again and watched as you turned around and walked out the door, joining your friends, all grouped up and laughing with them again. and even with all the conversation you had just had, he still got a brain freeze when you turned around for a second, away from your friends, just to look at him again, a smile on your face, too.
